• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Osprey count - January 24th (1 Viewer)

Gonçalo Elias

avesdeportugal.info
Portugal
Hi all,

A national count of wintering Ospreys will take place in Portugal on Jan 24th (Saturday).

This is a non-profit, volunteer event and its main goal is to get an accurate estimate of the wintering population (which is believed to be in the 25-50 range).

We would like to cover all wetlands (estuaries, lagoons, large rivers, reservoirs) in the same day, in order to avoid double counts that might arise from birds moving from one area into another.

About 30 volunteers are already available to help in this census. If any of you wishes to take part, please let me know.

Thanks.
Gonçalo
 
I am looking forward to the result of this survey. It will be good to know how many ospreys winter in Portugal, particularly British ones.
 
Indeed Tiger_mz.

Although figures are not yet final, because we are still waiting for a few reports, I can already share some thoughts:
- my biggest surprise was the large number of birds seen along the Tagus valley: at least 12 not counting the estuary - amazing! Jose Freitas had a major contribution here with 10 birds between Santarém and the estuary
- my biggest disappointment was the low figures in the reservoirs of the Alentejo province, where I was expecting many more (considering sightings from previous years); but nowadays there are dozens of large dams and thousands of small reservoirs and it is difficult to achieve a good coverage in this sparsely populated region
 
Indeed Tiger_mz.

Although figures are not yet final, because we are still waiting for a few reports, I can already share some thoughts:
- my biggest surprise was the large number of birds seen along the Tagus valley: at least 12 not counting the estuary - amazing! Jose Freitas had a major contribution here with 10 birds between Santarém and the estuary
- my biggest disappointment was the low figures in the reservoirs of the Alentejo province, where I was expecting many more (considering sightings from previous years); but nowadays there are dozens of large dams and thousands of small reservoirs and it is difficult to achieve a good coverage in this sparsely populated region

Do you have any records of birds sighted in Portugal going back years?

SSK was an osprey that probably spent seven winters in Portugal. For her track see here

Also U06 spent three winters in Portugal.
 
Last edited:
Warning! This thread is more than 9 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top